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When I went to Cal...

We had a Freshmen team. They usually played other teams' frosh or JC's.
We did not have womens' basketball then (late '50's early 60's IIR), thus gym space was available for the Frosh teams.

Wish they could do that now... but College basketball is a real different bird now. This is because more high school youngsters have the ability to play varsity early on. Also, the growth of African-Americans in college athletics led to a higher development in certain sports.

I was at the Cal-Kansas game during that period and saw Wilt "the Stilt" Chamberlain play in Berkeley.

There were also a "lightweight" teams (130s/145s) that played high schools and club teams. I don't think any of these guys ever moved up to the varsity. Mike White played at this level at least 1 year.

I was at the Cal-Kansas game during that period and saw Wilt "the Stilt" Chamberlain play in Berkeley.

So were you a Cal student back then? I remember the Wilt game because it was a huge sports event for Berkeley and the Bay Area. I was a 9th grader at Willard Jr. HS at the time. My best friend and I were going to skip the 9th grade prom to go to the game. I remember the principal pulling us into the office and threatening us with suspension and F's for the week if we chose to go to the game and skip the prom. What a downer for us. I know that Kansas won but do you remember the final score and totals for Wilt?

Yes, I was at Cal.....

The only thing I can remember from that game was our guard Earl Robinson challenging Wilt as Wilt dribble up to mid-court. Earl was 6'1" and he made Wilt hesitate for a moment but there wasn't much Earl could do. The fans got a kick out of that!

So were you a Cal student back then? I remember the Wilt game because it was a huge sports event for Berkeley and the Bay Area. I was a 9th grader at Willard Jr. HS at the time. My best friend and I were going to skip the 9th grade prom to go to the game. I remember the principal pulling us into the office and threatening us with suspension and F's for the week if we chose to go to the game and skip the prom. What a downer for us. I know that Kansas won but do you remember the final score and totals for Wilt?

Proms in Jr High? Yikes. That principal sure had his priorities wrong.

I went to the Cal-Kansas game. I was a sophomore in high school at the time. Kansas was ranked #1 in the country, and beat Cal 66-56. Wilt was a sophomore, and got about 20 points, which was well below his season average of 30. That was a real accomplishment, considering Cal’s center, Duane Asplund, was only 6’-7”. Cal had a good team that year, and won the conference, but Kansas was better. They won their league, and finished ranked #2 in the country, losing to North Carolina in the NCAA final. Cal lost only 5 games that year, one to Kansas, and two to USF.

In the following year, 1957, Cal went back to Kansas for a rematch. Kansas was ranked #2, and Wilt was a junior. Kansas won that game, 58-52, and I don’t remember how many points Wilt scored, but you can bet it wasn’t anywhere near his season average, which was again 30 points. Cal’s center in that game, Don McIntosh, was even shorter than Asplund. He was 6’-6”. Cal ended up winning the conference, and losing to Seattle and Elgin Baylor in the NCAA Western Regional. The next year, Wilt left school early to join the Harlem Globetrotters. Cal would go on that same year to make history by winning the NCAA championship.

Didn't the Alcindor freshman team regularly beat the varsity in scrimmages? At least that was the folklore.

I saw the UCLA frosh with Lew Alcindor, Lucious Allen, Lynn Shackleford, and Kenny Heitz, beat the UCLA varsity in the first game of the freshman team season, in Pauley Pavilon, to a sellout crowd. That freshman team went undefeated, and averaged over 100 points per game for the season.

Frosh and JV teams

We had a Freshmen team. They usually played other teams' frosh or JC's.
We did not have womens' basketball then (late '50's early 60's IIR), thus gym space was available for the Frosh teams.

Wish they could do that now... but College basketball is a real different bird now. This is because more high school youngsters have the ability to play varsity early on. Also, the growth of African-Americans in college athletics led to a higher development in certain sports.

I was at the Cal-Kansas game during that period and saw Wilt "the Stilt" Chamberlain play in Berkeley.

When i was at Cal in the early 60s, we had frosh and JV teams. Players couldn't play varsity until theywere sophs. Usually the frosh game was at 6:00 PM, the varsity game at 8:00pm. A few times their was also a JV game at 4:00 PM. The frosh played frosh teams from USDF, St. mary's and some JC teams. Every year the Oakland Tribune had an All Bay area frosh team, the top players from cal, Stanfrod, USF, St. marys and other bay area schools. Cal had many players who made the all frosh team, Denny Lewis, Bill Wilson, Mike Henderson, to name a few.
The first game of the year was between the frosh team and the JV team, followed by the varsity playing the alumni.